The Unexpected Patient
by wishyfishy
Summary: One mistake lands a stranger with two hearts into the Sanctuary. With him, he brings a whole wave of mystery and intrigue, as well as something else much more sinister.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Me own no thing of either show. BBC and SyFy have stolen the rights of both shows from my head, just to let you know about my unfortunate situation.

Author's note: I know, I know. This is the third Sanctuary/DW crossover I've written. But I just can't stop! I'm sure you can understand that. Oh and by the way, this takes place in the second season of Sanctuary, meaning that she doesn't know about Hollow Earth, and she isn't cut off from the government yet…just in case you're wondering.

The night was cold, dank, and dusty. The clouds above were threateningly heavy with rain. The moon was in hiding and none of its star companions were in sight. The streetlights shone with a grimy yellow glow, and instead of making the darkness appear brighter, it only made the shadows darker and more foreboding. Her boots clomped on the concrete, echoing throughout the empty street. The sound of rushing cars and police sirens could be heard in the distance, but they were so far off that it seemed like a different world. She was walking at a brisk pace, her footsteps matching her heartbeat. She knew she heard something just down that alleyway.

Suddenly, the sound of trash cans tumbling rang throughout. Her pace quickened.

When she arrived at the threshold of the alleyway, pitch black greeted her with a cold stare. But something was moving in those shadows. Something spry and deadly. And frightened. She grabbed her stun gun and flashlight from her belt. With a speedy click, a beam of light shot into the dark alley and shone directly on a rough scaly head.

It moved ever so slightly in response to the sudden light, sounding a guttural growl that rang deep in her bones. Walking slowly, she quietly made her way closer to the creature. It moved slightly again, but did not back away.

"Yes, that's right. There's no need to be afraid," she said gently to the beast in the gloom, slowly lowering her stun gun and still inching her way towards it.

But all of a sudden there was a shout from somewhere nearby, startling the creature and making it back out of the range of her flashlight. When she adjusted the beam, the beast was gone. She swept the area with the light, finding nothing but a few empty trash cans and a hand full of rubbish.

"Damn it!" she exclaimed. "Almost had it."

Another, shout suddenly ricocheted throughout the barren streets. Following that was an equally loud growl. She turned and headed as fast as she could towards the sounds, stun gun and flashlight still in hand.

Past a few dilapidated buildings, she found herself in another alleyway, better lit this time, watching as the beast faced down an odd looking man. The man didn't look very frightened. Sure there was fear in his eyes but he was controlling it, focusing his energy to calming down the creature instead.

Unfortunately, to no avail. The creature was fast closing in on him. Working hastily, she aimed her stun gun and fired. At the same time the beast's tail slammed against the ground, making her jump.

She missed.

The creature slashed at the man, snarling and displaying its amazing set of teeth. She aimed and fired again. This time she hit her target.

The beast fell in an instant. Beside it the man, staggered. He was bleeding from deep slices on his right shoulder and upper arm. She cursed and ran over to him. She hoped it wouldn't have come to this. This creature was easily frightened. Plus, the area was supposed to be secure. But she guessed there was no way they could've kept everyone back.

The man was now leaning against brick wall, slowly sliding down it leaving a dark red trail behind like a snail's slime track. As she came up next to the man, she quickly took off her radio from her belt.

"Henry? Henry, you there?" she spoke into it.

"Yeah, Doc. Only a minute or two away. Take down the beastie?" a male voice crackled back.

"Yes, unharmed. But unfortunately it managed to wound a man before I got to it. We need to transport him to the Sanctuary immediately," she replied hastily as she tore at the man's suit jacket to try to sop up the blood that poured out of his wounds.

"Okay. On it," responded the voice, signing off.

She clipped the radio back onto her belt, and focused her full attention to addressing the man's injuries. He had finished his slide down the wall, and was now laying slumped against it. His eyes were drooping, blood seeping through his light blue shirt.

"It's going to be okay. Just stay with me now," she said, pressing as hard as she could on the gashes, trying desperately to stop the bleeding. If this man died because she was startled by a twitch of a tail, there was no way that she was going to forgive herself.

The man struggled to lift his heavy eyelids, yet his stare was still focused directly on her.

"Who are you?" he managed to grunt out, his gaze intense despite his slow loss of consciousness.

"Doctor Helen Magnus and…," her voice trailing out as the man's eyes finally closed. "Sir? Sir, wake up. You need to stay with me. Sir?"

There was no response. Only silence.

))))

"So is he going to be okay?" questioned Will, standing beside Magnus in the infirmary.

In front of them was the man, laying still unconsciousness on the bed. His skin was pale, and his eyes moved restless underneath his eyelids. It had been an hour or two since they had rushed him here, and now he was all patched up, his vitals beeping on the screen nearby.

"I think so. He lost a lot of blood, but it seems that his unique physiology is replacing it quickly enough," Magnus replied.

"Yeah, that's right. You said this dude had two hearts or something," commented Will.

"Yes, it's quite remarkable. I've never seen anything like it. A dual cardiovascular system. Not to mention the unusual anomalies in his blood and that fact that his DNA states that he's not even human. I've never seen an abnormal like him," said Magnus, a tone of strong fascination in her voice.

She had learned about the man's uncommon makeup when they had rushed him into the infirmary and hooked him up the machines, immediately noticing his double pulse. Afterward, when they tested his blood for any infections, it became strongly apparent that the man was not a normal citizen of the city. All of this sparking a keen note of interest in Magnus. Finding new abnormals was what she lived for. She couldn't wait for him to wake up and talk to him.

"You sound like Christmas has come early," noted Will with an amused smirk on his face.

"Stop mocking me," she replied with a smile, adjusting the IV.

Just at that moment a grunt sounded from the man. Magnus and Will both straightened up alert. The man was wakening. Another grunt sounded, and then suddenly his eyes flew open and he began to sit up.

"Woh, settle down. Your fine, just lay back down. You don't want to stress your wounds," stated Will going to the man and gently pushing him back to the bed.

"Where am I?" questioned the man, complying with Will's commands and laying down.

"You're in the Sanctuary. You're safe here. Do you remember what happened?" kindly asked Magnus. She noticed that the man was speaking with an English accent, but didn't think of it much.

"Uh…," began the man, eyes moving back and forth as he searched for the memory. "You shot that creature with some kind of tranquilizer, but not before it attacked me…I asked you who you were and you said you were…Doctor Helen Magnus. What was that creature by the way?"

"A _Varanus lilaoensis_. An off shoot of the komodo dragon. I'm sorry it attacked you. It's gets frightened very easily. It normally lives in isolated regions of the world, but it's this one recently lost its habitat and wound up the city," replied Magnus.

She gazed at the man with inspecting eyes. He was wearing a white T-shirt, which they'd put on him because his other shirt was ruined with blood. She could see through the shirt to where the bandages lay wrapped around his injuries. The rest of him was adorned with pinstriped brown suit pants. They had taken off his converse shoes so he would be comfortable in the bed. Magnus half expected the man to be surprised, frightened, maybe even disgusted by her words, but instead a quirky smile appeared on his face.

"_Brilliant_," he muttered, staring up at the ceiling, thoughts obviously a million miles away.

In the corner of Magnus's eye, she could see Will with a questioning expression on. The man's reaction was strange, but they couldn't judge just yet. They barely knew anything about him.

"Okay…mind telling us your name?" questioned Will, almost as if in response to her thoughts.

"Oh…you can call me John Smith," replied the man, turning to face Will, his strange smile still engraved on his face. "And you are?"

"I'm Doctor Will Zimmerman."

"Hmm….'Zimmerman.' Interesting last name…Never met a Zimmerman before…or at least in recent memory," muttered John Smith, wincing a bit as he moved to get comfortable.

"Are you alright? Your wounds were pretty nasty," questioned Will.

"No, I'm fine. Just stings a bit."

"Yes, I noticed you're healing quite rapidly. I'm guessing that its part of you unusual physiology. Am I right?" said Magnus.

The man's smile faded a bit, his eyes glancing up at the screen displaying his vitals. His double pulse making it beep every second or two. She could almost see the gears working in his mind. _Fascinating_.

"Yep," John Smith replied, exaggerating the 'p' sound.

"It's alright, Mr. Smith. You are safe here. We deal with your kind every day," kindly responded Magnus.

John Smith's eyebrows furrowed, and he sat up a bit, wincing as he did so. "You do?"

"You're not alone Mr. Smith. Working with people with…unusual physiology is what we do," interjected Will in his calm psychiatrist voice.

"This facility is a safe haven, a sanctuary, if you will, for beings such as yourself, whom we call abnormals," explained Magnus, also in a calm voice.

The two were both treading very lightly. The truth could be hard to take in sometimes, and the last thing they wanted was John Smith stressing his injuries and break the stitches, especially when they didn't have any match for his blood type to give him a transfusion if he needed one.

"'Abnormals'?" questioned the man, sitting up even more, his eye brows almost touching.

_Oh how to put this lightly… _"Abnormals are…creatures, most of the time sentient beings, that fill in the spaces in the evolutionary chain, or sometimes even making up their own chain. There are millions of creatures that mainstream science has yet to understand. Most of the time, these creatures, abnormals, are hunted and/or misunderstood. We offer them a place to live away from the world, until the world is ready to believe and accept them, no matter who or what they are, and at the same time we try to also understand their place in the ecosystems of the world. This is the Sanctuary," informed Magnus.

A look of relief and understanding swept across John Smith's face, and then slowly but surely the quirky smile came back, making his eyes shine with admiration and interest. Again, his reaction was unexpected, making Magnus perplexity and fascination grow.

"Brilliant," he murmured for the second time. "Brilliant, simply magnificent. _But_…I'm afraid you're mistaken. I'm not an abnormal."

"Then what are you?" asked Will, an eyebrow rising in another questioning expression.

"Well…I rather not say. I'm really not supposed to be here. This is not where I belong…_and_ the wrong phrase at the wrong time in the wrong place could mean trouble…And lately I've been trying to cut back on my trouble-making. A bad habit that I can never seem to quit doing no matter how much I try…"

It was Magnus's turn to furrow her eyebrows. What did John Smith mean by that? He was turning out to be a very curious man, and her intrigue was achieving levels that hadn't been reached in years.

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying," stated Magnus.

"Thought as much. Most people don't. Normally it's a bad thing. Miscommunication can be a bothersome, but in this case, not so much. Anyways…I appreciate you for patching me up and all…but I really can't stay…must get home before I mess anything up," replied John Smith moving to get off the bed.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Mr. Smith. In this situation I'm technically your doctor and you are my patient. And as your doctor, I'm telling you that you need rest. Moving around too much may cause your stitches to break and I can't let you do that," pleaded Magnus, trying to push him back down on the bed.

"No really I shouldn't be here," urged the man, resisting her helping hand and attempting to stand up. "I would try to explain…but beside it being a tad more than I want to get in right now, I have no idea how it was effect things. Though, normally I couldn't care less about that little tid-bit, but…I guess you can say that I'm starting to learn my lessons."

"Mr. Smith, _please_," began Magnus, pushing pass his perplexing babble and trying to stop him from getting to his feet. "You're wounds-"

"I'll heal up. Don't worry. This body hasn't failed me yet. And thank you again, but I can't stay here. You must understand that. Not only is me being here just plain _wrong_, but trouble also has a habit of following me no matter what I do," replied John Smith, cutting off her.

And with that, he got to his feet. But he didn't stay that way for long. He couldn't seem to find his balance and almost toppled over if it wasn't for his quick reflexes. He ended up leaning heavily on a bed post until he gave up trying and sat back down.

"Let me guess…I lost a lot of blood right?" questioned John Smith, glancing up at Magnus with his face slightly pale.

She nodded. "It's replenishing itself quickly enough, but it will take time for you to completely heal. We have no blood match to give you a transfusion. In addition, if you break your stitches you'll lose even more. Now you see why I don't want you to leave just yet?"

John Smith nodded.

"Yep, you're not going anywhere anytime soon, bud," added Will, patting the stranger's on the shoulder.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Me own no thing.

Author's Note: Again this is during the second season. So no Hollow Earth, no being cut off from the government, none of that. Just plain a simple Sanctuary…but when has the Sanctuary ever been normal?

They were back on the way to Magnus's office, walking through the mazing halls of the residential area. They had left John Smith laying on his bed the infirmary with a small cart of books to keep him company while he recovered. They had also returned his bloody suit jacket which contained his reading glasses and 'other personal things.' He promised not to leave, but they locked the doors just in case.

And it was after that and through the carpeted and wallpapered corridors that they met up with Henry. He said wanted to update Magnus on the newest security changes, but it was obvious that he was more curious about John Smith than anything else. They had mentioned to him in passing about the stranger's dual cardiovascular system, and Henry clearly had become interested.

"So the dude said he wasn't an abnormal? How could he be sure? And what else could he possibly be?" questioned Henry.

Magnus's employee's words were only echoing questions that she had already voiced in her head. But those weren't the only ones that were crowding her thoughts. The man was a strange one, a mystery, and a difficult puzzle. Much of what he said made little sense or was unexpected. It was like the words were taken out of their original context and implanted into the conversation. Instead of answering questions like they should be doing, they were only created more. It was frustrating and exhilarating at the same time.

"Who knows? Maybe he's an _alien_…," joked Will with a smirk and sarcasm.

Magnus caught his eye and they both broke out in brief laughter. However, Henry remained by her side, silent.

"But what if he is an alien? I mean we've never seen anything like him, right? And we've practically got this planet covered, so he could possibly be from outside it," said the tech seriously.

"Henry, I appreciate your intuitive thinking, but that's extremely implausible. There may be other life giving planets in the universe but the likelihood that they would be able to make contact with us is tremendously slim. Anyway, there are plenty of abnormals that could be out there that we don't know about. In the end, I think Mr. Smith just doesn't want to face that he's an abnormal," replied Magnus.

But even as she said that last sentence, part of her didn't fully believe it. The stranger was different, but she just couldn't place it. He wasn't like any other abnormal she'd dealt with. Yet the majority of her ignored that kind of thinking and explained John Smith's oddness by rational means.

"I don't know about that Magnus…I mean I didn't see any signs of denial on him. He seemed pretty serious when he said he wasn't an abnormal…but that doesn't mean he's not one. He just completely believes that he's not," interjected Will.

"Okay, then, it's a sort of subconscious denial…," rationalized Magnus.

"Yeah, one that he unconsciously tries to prove. And that might be connected to a deeper psychological longing to be different, or to stand out from your average person, or in this case average abnormal. He yearns to rebel from the norms of society, which is most likely why he dresses and acts so oddly," added Will.

Yes, this was all sounding very plausible, thought Magnus. So plausible in fact that it might as well be the truth. Maybe all of the eccentricities of this man were explained by this psychological condition. Perhaps he was just another abnormal, albeit a new one, and nothing more. But that didn't stop her gut from protesting this hypothesis.

"Aw, come on. Don't go all rational on me. Aren't you at least a bit curious to know if he's actually telling the truth when he says he's not an abnormal, and he is in fact an alien?" interjected Henry.

"Please, Henry. Don't be silly. He's an abnormal in denial, and therefore I can assure you that Smith is completely terrestrial," and with that Magnus headed into her office.

))))

Arthur Conan Doyle's _A Study in Scarlet_ tumbled out of Smith's hand to the floor. The man's eyes were closed. His body was resting, sleeping off the damage it sustained. It would be a few hours until he would be fit enough to leave the bed. Half the time a normal person's system would take to recover enough to stand.

Magnus was watching him on her computer screen through the room's security feed. After she had sent Will and Henry off to do something else that needed to be addressed, she had tried to chip away at the mountain of paperwork that was sitting in the corner of her desk, but she couldn't stop thinking about Smith.

She had come to a reasonable conclusions about this man, but she couldn't help herself from questioning them. There was something about him that not only peaked her curiosity more than anything else but also made her instincts rise up in rebellion. Yet those feelings refused to give her anything more than doubts about her assumptions. She was frustrated and intrigued about the whole situation. And she satisfied them both by watching Smith sleep and letting her mind ponder the questions that were filling her head.

But while she was allowing herself to drift away into her thoughts, something was happening on the screen. Smith had suddenly sat up in an unexpected convulsion as the lights started to flicker and dim behind him. His eyes were wide. His body was rigid. And his mouth was open in a silent scream. Then just as abruptly, he fell back down upon the bed, the lights returning to normal. Now on his side, Smith began to clutch his head as his body rippled with tension. A second later, he was back to staring up at the ceiling, limp and panting, sweat glistening on his forehead.

Yet Magnus didn't see this finale because by the time it was occurring, she was already half way down to the infirmary.

))))

"Mr. Smith! Mr. Smith, are you okay?" questioned Magnus, rushing to the man's bedside. She glanced up at his vitals. Everything seemed to be fine, albeit his heartbeats were slightly elevated, but it was not reaching dangerous levels. "What just happened?"

The man gasped and tried to form words but without any sound reaching his lips. He was breathing heavy as his body strived to recover from whatever had just transpired. After a few seconds he was able to make his vocal cords work.

"Psychic attack," he answered hoarsely. "And an extremely strong one at that…thankfully I was able to fend it off…Do you have any physic abnormals?"

"Yes, but none of them would do this. They're all peaceful creatures…," replied Magnus, just a bit confused.

"Right…see what I mean when I say that trouble follows me?" replied Smith with a cough as he sat up a bit. "Can I have some water?"

"Yes, of course."

As Magnus went off to the sink to fulfill the man's request, something shimmered in the comer of her eye. She whipped around to see whatever it was, but it had vanished. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled.

"Here you go," said Magnus, handing a cup full of water to Smith who took it eagerly.

She could see the shimmering again, lingering just out of her normal line of sight. Goosebumps ran down her arms as she turned to try and spot it. Nothing was there beside the medical equipment, empty beds, and white tiled walls.

"What?" questioned Smith, placing the now drained cup on the bedside table. "What is it?"

"Um…," began Magnus turning back to her patient and painting a reassuring smile on her face. "Nothing you need to worry about. Right now you need to lie back down and continue to recover. My team and I will find out what attacked you, I assure you. Now get some rest."

There a moment of silence where Smith just stared somewhat questioningly at Magnus, but that look was quickly replaced with another painted smile.

"Fine…But could you possibly send down a cup of tea and some bananas? Kind of have a craving," the man replied.

"Yes, of course. I'll have someone bring them down as soon as possible. Now please, rest."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Magnus may own the Sanctuary and the Doctor may own the TARDIS, but I own neither of them. Sadly.

"Henry, check if there was any energy spikes in the past few hours," said Magnus.

"Sure thing, Doc," responded the tech.

"Should we call in Kate from her day off?" questioned Will.

"No, I don't think it's that serious…yet."

They were in Henry's tech room. Magnus had called Will up from his reading in the library, and she had just informed them about the physic attack on Smith.

Magnus's thoughts were zooming. She had a few theories as to what had attacked her patient, but none of them seemed possible at the time. And they didn't really address the reason why he was attacked in the first place. Was he was a threat of some kind? It seemed highly unlikely. He appeared harmless enough, but then again she didn't really know a lot about the man. _Who was he?_

"Seems like there was, Doc," began Henry, breaking her away from her thoughts. "There was an energy spike about 5 minutes ago in the infirmary of the Sanctuary."

"Around the time that Mr. Smith was attacked, right?" added Will stepping closer to the desk.

"Right…Henry, pull up the security footage of the attack," responded Magnus, leaning in over her employee's shoulder.

A few taps of the keys later and the recording was up on the screen. As the image of Smith convulsed, Magnus pointed to the lights on the wall in the background. They were flickering.

"Okay, so that explains the power surge…," commented Henry.

"Wait, what's that?" questioned Will, pointing to another spot on the screen.

The tech stopped the footage and closed in on the place Will pointed out.

"Enhance the image," said Will, putting his arm down.

They all leaned slightly forward as Henry altered the picture by heightening the contrast and sharpening image. Suddenly, once he accomplished that, a slightly shimmering gas could be seen leaving Smith's mouth.

Magnus caught a gasp in her throat. That gas was exactly what she had seen in the corner of her eye when in the infirmary. At the time, she had only her instincts to say that it wasn't something particularly friendly. Now she had proof that the thing had malicious intent. Whatever it was. She had meet quite a few psychic abnormals in her day, but none of them had been exactly like this. Whatever had attacked Smith was something that she had never encountered before. And while this moment, on some small level, was an occasion to celebrate, the villainy of this particular abnormal meant that their lack of knowledge was a serious and possibly lethal side-effect.

But lethal to whom?

It hadn't attacked her or any of her employees or any of the other abnormals. Now that's not to say that it won't, given time, but it did chose to attack Smith first. _Why_? Magnus had a feeling that the answer to that question was hidden in mystery of the true identity of Smith. But before her mind could dive further into that subject, she was brought back to reality by the reaction of her employees.

"What in the hell is that?" questioned Henry.

"Haven't the faintest," replied Magnus. "But I think I caught a glimpse of it when I tended Smith after the attack."

"It looks like some kind of electrical creature," added Will.

"You know what…that does make sense," began Henry. "I've noticed a few slight power surges in the past few hours."

"Really, Henry? How come I'm just learning about this now?" questioned Magnus with a surprised and slightly irritated tone.

"Don't worry, Doc. I was gonna tell yah. But it's just that you've been so focused on this Smith dude and they're barely anything really…you know the kind of power surges that you'd get when they're tuning up the generators. I didn't really think much of it until now."

"So this thing is electric and physic. You think it could be the same creature that's in Druitt?" questioned Will, turning towards his boss.

"No I don't think so. It hasn't displayed any other malignant qualities besides attacking Smith," replied Magnus, facing her employee.

"You think it was just after Smith? But why?"

"That's exactly what I was wondering."

"Okay…then will it go after him again?"

"Possibly…Probably…Hopefully not. But just in case I should see what kind of protection Sally could give him. Smith said he was able to fend off the first attack, but in his weakened state I'm doubtful as to his ability to do it again. In the mean time, we should probably start looking for this abnormal that attacked Smith. Once we have it, then we'll know if he and the rest of us are safe. It attacked Smith first, but we don't know for sure that it will not go after us or any of the other abnormals. We can't afford to be careless."

"Right…um…I guess I should start looking for any recent power surges and where they are originating from and then…find some way to capture this thing," said Henry starting to type away at his computer.

"Thanks, Henry. Will and I will be with Sally, trying to if there's and protection we can give Smith," stated Magnus, and with that she turned off towards the center level, her employee following closely behind.

))))

Sally was their resident mermaid with remarkable telepathic abilities. If there was anyone that could help them, it was her. Magnus wasn't exactly sure how she could help, but she knew that there was something that the mermaid could do. She wasn't about to leave Smith defenseless. It would be a rather low point in her career if she let a new abnormal die from another unknown abnormal. But mainly it was because she didn't want him to die under her watch. After so many years and so many deaths, she sought to do everything in her power to stop another casualty.

There was also a further reason behind her want, a reason that she tried to push back and was almost ashamed to think of. She didn't want Smith to die when there were so many questions about him unanswered. It was a selfish reason and she knew it, but she couldn't stop that small bit of her from thinking it. This man was different and she desperately desired to know why.

But this want was shut out of sight. She couldn't let it interfere with what she was trying to do. Something that turned out to be harder than she thought, for when Magnus and Will reached Sally's tank, they saw someone there that they didn't expect to see.

Smith was standing with a wide smile his face. He was still in his white T-shirt and shoeless state that was when she left him and his hand on the glass where Sally had placed her hand on the opposite side. He seemed to be having a conversation with her.

"Well, actually I didn't plan on doing that either but…you know how things go. That's why I rarely plan because nothing really goes according to it," he said looking into the mermaid's face.

Sally nodded, and then turned towards Magnus and Will who had just walked in to the scene. Smith followed her gaze, and waved hello at the sight of them.

"Mr. Smith, what are you doing out of bed?" questioned Magnus, thoroughly confused. Last time she checked this man was in no condition to be up walking around, and yet here he was. He must've been a faster healer than she first hypothesized.

"Ah, well…All I needed was some potassium and a good cuppa. Oh, and congratulations. That was the best tea I had in America so far. I had some really good Earl Grey in this tiny place in New York…but that was a long while ago and in a completely different…um…setting," babbled the man, placing one hand in his pocket.

Magnus notice that while the man was smiling and able to stand, he was still pale and a bit shaky in the knees. He was also leaning slightly on Sally's tank with his hand. He might be up walking but he was far from being fully recovered, and that worried Magnus slightly. His wounds shouldn't be stressed, and she didn't know enough about his physiology to safely say predict when he would be able to up and about. She didn't want to take any chances with this man.

"Mr. Smith. You shouldn't be moving around," stated Magnus firmly.

"Is that why you locked me into that infirmary? No offence, Doctor Magnus, I'm sure you have good intentions at heart, but I think I know enough about my body to be able to tell when I need rest and when I could go on without it…," replied Smith, seriously.

"_Plus_," he continued with a lighter note to his voice. "I couldn't just lie around and let you track down what attacked me. I would miss out on all the fun! And, on that note, I just couldn't help myself. I had to have a look around this facility that you have here. Which, by the way, is absolutely _brilliant_! A wonderful balance between research and care and protection, and believe me, that's a hard thing to do."

Magnus didn't know if she should feel worried that Smith had taken the liberty to walk around unattended, or if she should feel gratitude for his gracious praise. She decided to go with a combination of both and expression of softened seriousness.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Mr. Smith. But I'm not comfortable about you wondering around the Sanctuary unsupervised. It is mainly for your safety. There are a lot of hazardous abnormals in this facility," stated Magnus.

She was stretching the truth just a tad about saying that it was all for his safety. That was part of it, yes, but this man was still a mystery to her and she hated to think it, but she'd rather not have a possibly dangerous person roaming about.

"Ah, yah…noticed that bit," replied Smith, taking the hand out of his pocket to scratch the back of his head. "But don't worry. I've handled dangerous…_creatures_ before. It's sort of my hobby…_well_ I guess you can argue that's my job, but it's never really felt like a job to me. I'm sure you feel the same way Doctor Magnus. From what I can see you do the same thing practically. Only a bit more scientifically oriented."

What did he mean when he's handled 'dangerous creatures' before? Magnus thought. Was he an abnormal hunter? He didn't seem like one, but then again anything was possible.

Suddenly the lights around them dimmed. The three of them looked around in confusion, hearts pounding in ears, until the lights flared back up to normal strength. A chill ran down Magnus's spine. There was something glinting in the corner of her eye. She whipped around. Nothing. The skin on the back of her neck prickled.

She heard a buzzing and looked back. Smith was waving some kind of thin device around, a blue glow and hum emanating from the top. He frowned and dropped his arm; the device grew dark and quiet.

"I _really_ need to get out of here," he murmured.

"What do you mean?" questioned Magnus. The man had been saying this the moment he and woken up, but this time was different. It suddenly seemed much more serious.

"It's after me. I need to leave before anything else happens," he replied cryptically, facing Magnus with grave eyes.

"You mean that shimmering thing that's causing the power surges?" asked Will.

"Yes. It was trailing me when I broke down and ended up here. I hadn't realized that it survived the trip, but apparently it had… _Stupid_!" he suddenly exclaimed, banging his head. "I should've known better. I've encountered Cerebrivores before, but I didn't _think_!"

"Cerebrivores?" questioned Magnus. She had never heard of an abnormal species named that, and like Henry has so adequately put earlier, she practically had the whole planet catalogued. So if she didn't know about them, how did Smith? Was that what he meant by 'dangerous creatures'?

"It's an electrical creature that feeds off the psychic waves of the brain by attaching itself to the host. Therefore tries to go after beings with the most psychic capabilities, which is why it was following me…It must've attached itself to the TARDIS to be able to track me so far…"

But Magnus didn't hear Smith's last mumbled sentence; she was too engulfed in the uneasiness that his explanation caused. If this creature was what he said it was, then she was right in her suspicion that it could attack the other abnormals in the facility. And in that case, it needed to be captured as soon as possible. There was doubt in the validity of his statement, yes, but Magnus felt she couldn't take the risk.

"Well since you seem to know so much about this creature, do you know how to capture it?" questioned Magnus.

"Yes…_but_ it will much easier if I just leave. I think my mind is enough to lure it way from your abnormals."

But before Magnus or Will could respond, a shriek emanated from the tank behind Smith. They all looked in horror as Sally began to writhe and twist about, clutching her head with her face contorted in pain.

"Oh, no no no no no no!" exclaimed Smith, placing both hands on the tank, his face centimeters from the glass. "You need to fight it! _Concentrate_!"

It was a terrible feeling, just standing there, having little to no clue as to what to do. Magnus knew nothing about the creature that was attacking her friend and no matter what her brain came up with, it seemed either foolishly impossible or irrationally implausible. But she couldn't just watch Sally be assailed. That wasn't who Magnus was.

She rushed to Sally's tank, Will following in her wake. "What can you do?" she urgently asked. Smith was the only person here that knew anything about what was attacking the abnormal, and she was going to make sure that he did everything in his power to help.

"Uh…," he looked at her, eyes desperate yet determined. "It doesn't look like she's able to stop it, like I did. She's fighting, though, that's good. It can't take a secure hold. But she won't last that long."

"Well, can you get it out of her?" Will asked.

"Yes…but you'll not like me for doing this."

And with that, he turned around and pointed his device at the lights. Their strength grew exponentially, blazing brighter and bright as the device buzzed. Magnus and Will shielded their eyes at the intensity as Sally continued to psychically wrestle with the Cerebrivore. Soon the light bulbs burst under the pressure, exploding in a shower of glass and filaments. At the same moment, Sally let out a high pitch wail and fell still.

Then…silence.

Magnus looked around, blinking the spots out of her eyes and letting her pupils adjust to the sudden darkness. The glass fragments glinted faintly in the distance glow of emergency lights. Beside her, Will was also gazing around in confused astonishment, while Smith just stood there on her opposite side with a stoic expression, his device hanging limply in his hand. When she spun around to face the tank, she found Sally motionless, drifting in the water. For a horrid second Magnus thought she was dead, but then she noticed the movement in her gills. She was breathing, meaning she was only unconscious. Magnus sighed in relief. She would have to go in and check if she was alright, but at least she was alive.

She turned away from Sally, and towards Smith, who was putting his device into a pocket of his suit pants, wondering what in the world he had just done.

"The increased electricity drew out the Cerebrivore. Because it didn't have a good psychic hold, it was able to be pulled to the stronger electricity," he said, answering the question that was on Magnus's mind. He looked tired, and was leaning heavily against the tank. His fingers were trembling.

A ringing sounded, besides her. It stopped when Will answered his cell. "Yup, we know…It was Smith…Yeah, not sure how. Some sort of device thing he took out of his pocket…Yeah…That's good…Great, we'll be up there soon." He hung up. "So, whatever Smith did to the light only effected the power on this level, but don't worry the backup is on. The only real damage seems to be to the Big Guy's time. He's gonna have a lot of light bulbs to replace."

Magnus only just barely heard her employee's information; she was too focused on Smith. He was turning paler and paler, and soon an ominous spot started to grow upon his chest like a red fern. She rushed to his side.

"Told you you'd break your stitches," she commented as she helped him towards the elevator.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Ownership is relative really. It's all a matter of opinion. Someone can think they own something when they really don't. But that is not the case right now. I know I don't own the rights to these shows. But I sometimes dream that I do…isn't that enough to have ownership? No? Well, fine. Be that way…

"You know, human medicine has never really agreed with me, but you seem to be doing a wonderful job of adjusting to my unique physiology," said Smith, wincing as Magnus put the final stitch in. "_Well_, I guess that goes along with the whole abnormals thing doesn't it?"

"Hold still," she responded tying the knot and snipping off the extra. "There, you should be fine if you don't stress your wounds again. May I remind you I don't have a match to your blood type and if you lose anymore you could go into peripheral hypoperfusion. I would like to prevent that as much as I can, since you seem to be the only one that knows what's attacking my abnormals."

They were once again in the infirmary, Smith was back in bed, and Magnus was back to stifling her curiosity in order to focus on the problem of the Cerebrivore. She longed to ask him the questions that were filling up her head like a flood plain. Why did he seem to know so much about what was attacking him and others? Why it was attacking him the first place? Why did he refuse to see himself as an abnormal but still not human? And more. But there was a time and place for those queries, and now was not it. The abnormals under her care were in danger.

"Right," stated Smith with a sigh. "I always seem to be the one with all the information."

Magnus nodded. She could relate, and that was part of what made this situation especially worrisome. It had been a long time since she had to rely on someone for information, and she was uncomfortable being in dark about the dangers of this creature. She was now dependent on a complete stranger, an enigma whose knowledge was in slight doubt.

"Exactly, which is why you need to help us capture this Cerebrivore or whatever it is. I can't risk the safety of the abnormals in this facility any longer," Magnus responded.

"Trust me," Smith replied. "I want the exact same thing. I brought this to your doorstep and I'm going to do whatever I can to take it away from here and everything you've built. This place is brilliant and I'm not going to let the creatures in here stay in danger."

"Thank you," Magnus said, slightly relieved to hear his willingness to help. "So how do we go about capturing this creature?"

"Well in simplest terms…strong electric field of some kind and _a lot_ of power."

"That can be arranged."

))))

"Mr. Smith, this is Henry Foss. My in-house tech specialist," introduced Magnus as she rolled Smith in.

He was sitting, not without resistance, in a wheelchair. He had insisted that he'd be there to help Henry put together the electric field and placing him a wheelchair and wheeling him to the tech lab was the only thing Magnus could think of that would satisfy him and her want to keep him from killing himself before he could help them.

"Right, nice to meet you!" spoke Smith cheerily, holding out and hand for Henry.

"You too." Henry grinned in response, taking the hand and shaking it. Magnus could detect a hint of excitement in his eyes, as if he still held on to his absurd theory of Smith being an alien. "So…um…the boss said something about an electric field?"

"Well…it's a bit more complicated than that," replied Smith, rolling himself around the lab. "Oooh…is this what I think…Ha! It is! A sonic stun gun! I love sonic devices. So useful yet practically harmless. That's why I carry around one myself. Don't leave home without my handy-dandy sonic screwdriver."

"Dude, a screwdriver?" questioned Henry, incredulously. "A gun is way more useful."

"Oi! Don't diss the sonic. It's gotten me out of quite a few pickles in my day, including one only a few minutes ago."

"I take it that was the pen-like device Will was telling me about."

"Yup. It does much more than put up shelves."

"Anyway," pointedly began Magnus, pushing back even more questions that had popped up in response to Smith's words. "Mr. Smith, I trust you'll be able to help Henry with the construction of this electric field without popping any more of your stitches. In any case, Henry, keep an eye on him. I would like this field done as quickly as possible before anymore of my abnormals are attacked."

"On it boss," replied Henry seriously.

"Don't worry about me," added Smith with his quirky smile.

Magnus nodded, doubting whether to take the stranger on his word, and making a mental note to radio in every half an hour while she was out with Will trying to figure out where the Cerebrivore was most likely going to be, based on Henry's information on the recent power surges. She took one last look at her employee and patient as they headed into an enthusiastic conversation about technology and electrics, and headed out.

))))

The halls of the Sanctuary were their normal mixture of peaceful quiet and animalistic noise. Everything at the moment seemed to be in place. After checking the upper floors, they were currently down in the catacombs, stalking the passageways filled with crates and dust. Will was on the tablet, making sure they were covering all the areas Henry pointed out that had power surges, while Magnus was checking the voltage readings from the panels and sockets on the walls. So far nothing was out of the ordinary.

"So…why do you think Smith knows so much about this Cerebrivore or whatever it's called?" asked Will causally, almost more out of need to break the silence than true curiosity.

"Well, he said something about working with 'dangerous creatures,'" replied Magnus.

"Yeah, but how come we've never heard of a Cerebrivore before, and he has? There's something fishy about that."

"There's a lot of odd things about that man."

If she was truthful about it all, she had attempted to put the mystery of Smith out of her mind. She was trying to focus on the situation at the moment and she couldn't do that successfully if she was lost in her ponderings. There would be plenty of time afterwards to think about that man. Right now she needed to work on the present. She didn't want what happened to Sally to happen to anyone else. Right now Big Foot was tending to her, and from what he had told her through the radio, Sally's vital signs were normal and it looked like she would be relatively fine. Magnus thanked the powers that be that the mermaid was alright, but she didn't want anything worse to happen.

"Yep, he sure is one hell of an enigma, that's for sure. Do you think there's any truth in what he says about not being an abnormal?"

"Will, what else could he be? He has two hearts, anomalies in his blood, and nonhuman DNA. There's nothing he could be beside an abnormal. And there is no way he's an alien," replied Magnus, checking the power box on the wall next to her with the voltage meter in her hand. No irregular voltage. The moved on down another hallway.

"Well…I don't know. He could be a human experiment. Or some kind human mutation."

"That doesn't explain his DNA. And anyway, I thought you were set on your theory that he was just in denial about his abnormal state."

"I was…I mean I still am, kind of. But his knowledge on this Cerebrivore and how to deal with it makes me doubt that theory a bit. He's not like anyone else we've met. There's something about him that's…different. You know what I mean?"

"You have no idea how much…wait." The voltage meter was detecting a slight irregularity, an irregularity that seemed to increase in magnitude the closer they moved towards the back up control panel. It was from panel that in an emergency if they lost access to the main control panel, they could manually control the electric system and basic security of the Sanctuary.

"How many power surges that Henry recorded originated from here?" questioned Magnus, turning to her employee.

"Well, they pretty much happened everywhere but…wait," replied Will, checking the tablet. "They may not originate from here, but they all seem to be centered _around_ here. It's like one big bullseye if you lay everything out two dimensionally. We were looking at it by floors before, that's why we didn't see it."

"So this must where the Cerebrivore has been coming from. Where its 'nest' is, so to speak," said Magnus slightly amazed that they didn't figure it out before. It would make sense, though. The whole Sanctuary electric grid was accessible through that control panel. It also got direct power from the city, unlike the rest of the building whose electricity has to be passed through the Sanctuary's system. It seemed so obvious now that they'd figured it out. She felt slightly idiotic for not working it all out sooner. Part of the reason why was because she didn't have all the information that she needed before hand, but nevertheless, it was something she should've caught up on earlier.

"Well, now we know where it's hiding out, we can tell Henry and Smith so they can set up the trap," stated Will.

"Exactly. But for now let's vacate the area, we don't want to lure the creature out with our human psychic abilities, however slight they may be."

"Yeah…probably for the best…"

And with that they both rushed out of the area and back towards the tech lab as fast as they could.

))))

"Dude, that's so simple. I don't know why I didn't think of it before!" exclaimed Henry as Will and Magnus walked in.

The tech and Smith were gathered around a work desk where the overhead lights glared down on a pieced-together device on the table. It made up of two things. One was roughly the same size and shape as 1980s cell phone and the other was similar to a stereo speaker. They were attached together with some kind of exposed thick silver wire.

"Well, the Cerebrivore is a pretty basic creature. A trap for it is pretty simple, you just have think differently," replied Smith.

"But that thing you did with the changing of the polarity-" However Henry was cut short by a loud yet polite cough from Magnus.

"I trust that you two have successfully built an electric field to trap and contain the Cerebrivore?" she questioned, double checking what she inferred from the snippet of their conversation.

"Yep," replied Smith as they both turned to face her. "These devices should be able to generate a sufficient electric field to draw it out. Then once trapped in the field, the larger device will suck it in. That'll be able to hold it long enough for me to figure out what to do with it."

"Man, I'm telling you, this dude a genius," interjected Henry. "Once I told him where to get things he basically put this field together like a child's puzzle. I'm telling you, he could give Telsa a run for his money."

And the mystery thickens. Magnus wondered just how intelligent Smith was. He was obviously very smart, but just how much? No, she thought. There was no time to ponder. There was only time for action. So with that, she pushed away those musings to recall when the situation was less dire.

"'Telsa'? As in Nikola Telsa?" questioned Smith, obviously intrigued.

"This one and only. I'm telling you, I would pay to see those you two face off. It would be totally wicked!" There was a glint of wonderment in his eye.

"_Anyway_…," began Magnus, tired of the tangent. "We found out where the Cerebrivore is hiding."

"It's at the back up control panel in the catacombs," added Will. "That's where all the power surges have originated from, and it appears to be where the creature has…'nested' so to speak."

"Alright-y then. This baby is ready, and there's no time like the present," said Henry, picking up the device.

"Right, allons-y!" responded Smith, rolling towards the door.

"Oh, no," stated Magnus holding back his wheelchair. "You're still healing. Plus, you would be in the most danger of being attacked, considering your self-proclaimed psychic capabilities."

"Well, I could-"

"_No_," stated Magnus forcefully, cutting the man off. "Mr. Smith, you are my patient and I can't let you risk your health again. I thank you for your help, but you _can't_ come with us."

Smith opened his mouth to retort, but stopped and fell silent. It seemed, to Magnus at least, that his mind had finally registered the risk he was taking in his recovery and how stupid it was. The man nodded in acknowledgement of his epiphany and gave a short, halfhearted wave good-bye.

Glad for having to deal with less of an argument from Smith than she expected, Magnus led the way out of the lab and down towards the catacombs, her employees following faithfully behind.

)))

"All set, Doc," said Henry.

It didn't take long for them to reach the back up control panels and arrange the electric field devices that Smith had made. They were both plugged into nearby electrical outlets, and quickly powering up. The larger device was set a few feet to the right of the control panel, and the smaller one sat a few feet in the opposite direction. The silver wire made a half circle between them, surrounding the control panel. Everything was in place and ready to go.

"Then, start it up, Henry," ordered Magnus.

The tech nodded and pressed a button on the side of the larger device, and then backed up to where the other two were standing at a safe distance. From there, they all watched as the electric field bloomed before their eyes. Starting from the two devices and then traveling down the wire, a web of electric fingers shot up and curled together to weave a wall of electric energy. Almost simultaneously, they notice a simmering cloud being pulled out of the control panel like there was a vacuum sucking the Cerebrivore out of its current home. When the creature hit the field, there was brilliantly bright burst.

And then everything went horribly wrong.

Violent sparks erupted from the two devices, while ominous smoke streamed from the outlets. Then the electric field started to fade.

"Henry, what's happening?" exclaimed Will, backing up from the sparks.

"I don't know. I think the devices overloaded the outlets. Now it's not getting enough power," the tech replied.

"I thought you hooked the outlets directly to the city's electric grid," responded Magnus.

"I did, but I forgot how old the wiring is down here. It's the wiring that can't handle the power," said Henry, yelping slightly as a spark hit him.

It was not looking good. The field was fading at an exponential rate, and the sparks were getting worse. Soon the field would be gone, and the Cerebrivore would be back in the electrical system of the Sanctuary, probably off to find somewhere else to nest. It would take even more time to find it again, and then who knows who it could attack by then.

Almost as Magnus thought this, the electric field blinked out. In the sudden gloom they could see the Cerebrivore zoom away, but not towards the control panel. Instead it headed straight for the group. The last thing Magnus saw before she collapsed and the pain began was the creature's malevolent glimmer and Smith rushing out of nowhere to help.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Ever thought when look up at the night sky that you would like to own just a bit of that magic and wonder, just something you can place in a jar and keep forever? Well, I'm here to tell you folks that's just plain impossible. About as impossible as me owning the rights of these two dear shows.

Magnus was later informed that once she fell to the floor, and maybe even before, Smith had jumped out of his wheelchair and rushed to the outlets the devices were connected to. He worked fast, hands like the wings of a bee with the sound of his sonic screwdriver to accompany them. He pulled out wire after wire, biting off the insulation and twisting them together with lightening speed. More than once he received a shock, but he kept on working.

However, Magnus witnessed none of this. She was only aware of the pain. It felt like claws were ripping and tearing their way through her mind such as a savage abnormal would do on the hunt for a meal. A creature was trying to grab hold of something buried deep inside her head. It was the golden nugget of her psyche, the thing that once it planted its claws in, it would never let go, feasting until she was brain dead.

Magnus fought back against it with all her might. She kicked and punched, battling with the creature such as an ancient knight would do with dragon. But this dragon was too large, too tough, too strong, and nothing she did stopped it. Her attempts at fighting it only served in slowing it down, as it continued to slash and rip it way through her mind with no intent of halting its progress.

While she wrestled with the beast inside her brain, she was faintly aware of her cries of pain, the desperate shouts of her employees, and the rustle of anxious movement around her.

The creature soon reached the center of her psyche and began to stab its claws in, vying for a handhold. Magnus struggled madly to push it out and away. It was at that exact same moment that Smith was able to restart the electric field. Even though it wasn't until later she knew it was on, Magnus could feel it pull the beast out of her mind, but it was desperate and dug the few claws it managed to attach to her psyche in even deeper.

Magnus screeched in complete and unbearable agony. Through it all though, she managed to hear Smith's words of frantic encouragement:

"_Come on_ Dr. Magnus! You're brilliant, you can do it. Keep _fighting_!"

That was exactly what she was doing, but she knew she couldn't continue for much longer. Its claws were sinking deeper and deeper with every second, grabbing more of a psychic hold and resisting the pull of the electric field with even greater force. She wasn't going to last. She wasn't strong enough.

But suddenly, she felt another presence there with her, helping to battle the creature. Together they were able to successfully fight back. Together they were able push its claws out, and leave the beast to the mercies of the electric field.

When it was gone, there was a brief moment, only a second, where the gap left by the creature was filled with mind of her helper. Far and unknown stars, terrible monsters made of unearthly flesh or metal, and distance burnt orange skies filled her vision. But they were gone in a flash and Magnus's mind was once again free and unoccupied by anyone else other than herself.

She gasped and shuttered and coughed and soon fell into the comfortable arms of unconsciousness.

))))

It was the buzzing that awoke her. It had drilled into the dark and let blinding light into her sight. When her eyes adjusted, she was immediately confronted with the concerned face of Will.

"Magnus, how are you feeling?" he questioned anxiously.

"I'm fine…I'm fine," she muttered in reply, sitting up.

Her whole body was aching and a monstrous pounding had started in her head, but other than that she didn't feel that much worse for wear. Behind Will, Henry stood, with a similarly concerned expression.

"Yep…a bit banged up, but perfectly healthy," added a voice to her other side.

She turned to see Smith, putting away his sonic screwdriver in his pocket. That must've been where the buzzing was originating from. And while the man was painting another smile on his face, she could see worry and fatigue in his eyes.

"And you can tell that from your _screwdriver_?" questioned Henry, instantly interested.

"Told you it does much more than put up shelves," replied Smith, with a wink.

"Where am I?" Magnus asked, ignoring the tech's line of enquiry. The ache in her head made concentrating on small details difficult.

"The infirmary," replied Will. She could practically see the relief washing over him. "We had just managed to get you down here when you woke up. Glad you're alright. We thought we lost you for a moment."

"Yeah, if it wasn't for Smith here, we'd have too," commented Henry, relaxing his tense shoulders as well.

"Well…she was doing a good job of fighting it off herself. Not many humans would've lasted that long. Now that's brain power," replied Smith.

"Thank you," responded Magnus, taken back but his unexpected compliment. "What about the Cerebrivore?"

"Captured. Once Smith turned the electric field back on, it was trapped in the larger device just as planned," answered Henry.

Magnus nodded, but immediately stopped for her head gave an agonizing throb. It felt like jackhammers were having a jolly good time in her brain. She placed a hand on her forehead and winced as the ache flared again.

"Are you sure you're okay?" questioned Will, his concern returning.

"Yes, I'm fine. My head just hurts that's all," she replied, looking away from the lights that were beginning to burn her eyes.

"That's to be expected. You just had to fight off an invading being. You're head's bound to hurt. Some rest will do you good," added Smith.

"Shouldn't I be telling _you_ that? You weren't even supposed to be down in the catacombs at all. You should've been here in the infirmary," Magnus said.

"Ah…See, I couldn't miss out on all the fun! Plus, I wanted to be there if on the off chance anything went wrong."

"Well, luckily you were there to help," voiced Will.

"All in the job description, _well_…there really isn't a job description for what I do, but if there was one, I'm sure it'll be in there. _Anyway_, I should probably get going. Now that the Cerebrivore's captured, there's no reason for me to stay."

"No," stated Magnus, looking up to face Smith and squinting at the light. "You're still recovering."

If she was true with herself, that was only partly accurate. Yes, the man was up an about when he shouldn't be, the pale tone of his face was proof of that. Nevertheless, the secret and selfish reason she wanted him to stay was that he was still so full of unanswered questions. If he left now, she knew she would be wondering about him for the rest of her life.

"Don't worry, Dr. Magnus. I can take care of myself," replied Smith.

"And your recent actions are proof of that? I think not. No, you need to stay and rest at least until your stitches have begun to dissolve." Magnus winced again and turned away. The lights were burning her eyes and making the pounding ten times worse.

"Magnus, you need to lie down and sleep," said Will, noticing her pain and trying to gently push her down on the bed.

"_No_," she replied, resisting both the pain and her employee's hand. "Not until I'm sure that Smith won't run off prematurely."

"Magnus please," begged Will.

"I'm fine, I just-"

"Okay," interjected Smith, cutting her off. "I promise I won't leave until you are satisfied with my recovery. You're the doctor, here. Okay? Now can you relax and rest. That's what you need right now. I won't leave."

Magnus looked back up at him, braving the glare of the lights. She gazed into his dark eyes and knew undeniably that the man was lying through his teeth. He had already played this trick twice. She realized that there was no way she was going to keep him here unless she locked him up and she was not about to do that after he had just saved them all. Well, if she wasn't going to be able to stop him from running off, the least she could do was try to get some answers last minute.

"Will," she began, turning to her employees. "Could you get me a 10% solution of morphine? I believe it's in the room down the hall. And Henry, check on the Cerebrivore, will you? I want to you to double check it's completely secure. Wouldn't want it to escape after we went through so much to capture it."

They both nodded in response and were out of the infirmary in a matter of seconds. Magnus sighed and laid back down, the pain was very draining but she's experienced worse. She turned her head to watch Smith sit down on the bed next to her. He picked up his bloodied suit jacket that they had brought to him before the business with the Cerebrivore.

"I'm afraid that jacket's beyond saving. Blood is impossible to get out. I should know," commented Magnus, trying to strike up a conversation. From years of practice, beginning with talking about something seemingly meaningless was a great gateway into more important matters.

"Nah. I have something somewhere—if I can find it—that will get it out. I got it in a little…um…place a while back. Never had to use it before," Smith said with a sigh as he put it down. "Well, there's a first time for everything."

"Isn't that the truth," mused Magnus, stopping the wave of memories before they started and getting back to her purpose. "I know you're lying about staying."

"Yeah. Got that impression." The smile was still on his face.

"When the Cerebrivore was attacking me, it was you that helped me fight it off, wasn't it?"

It didn't take that much to guess that it was Smith that assisted her. Even though the moment she tried to think about what had happened when the creature attacked the pain grew to unbearable proportions, she still realized that she didn't fight off the Cerebrivore completely alone. And it was only a matter of simple deduction to conclude that it was Smith who aided her.

"Yep. You're a brilliant woman, Magnus, but you just don't have a completely capable mental defense. Not your fault. You are human after all…well mainly. You're a lot older that the average human."

"How'd you come to that conclusion?" For some reason she was not surprised that he had figured it out. He obviously contained enough intelligence to notice the signs. Then there was also the fact that he had wondered around the Sanctuary. Who knew what information he had discovered on his self-guided tour?

"It's in the way you walk and talk. It reminded me of an age long gone by. Then there's of course your eyes. You've seen a lot, haven't you Dr. Magnus? A lot more than anyone normally sees in the standard lifetime. I should know…" There was a note of strange melancholy in his words, his smile had disappeared, and he had taken to staring at the wall behind her.

"You're older than you look as well I'm guessing?" It was something she had a slight suspicion about before what with his unusual amount of knowledge, but wasn't completely sure of it until now.

"Yep, much older than you'd think. Though it's worth it when you get to see amazing things like this place."

"Funny you've never heard of the Sanctuary before. When one deals with 'dangerous creatures,' they tend to at least know of us."

"Well, I'm not exactly from around here."

"We have Sanctuaries all over the world."

"Yeah, but I'm sort of a…uh…hermit sometimes," replied Smith, clearly lying. "Plus, the creatures I deal with aren't exactly abnormals."

"What are they, then? In fact, what are you?" This could've been just more denial, but that feeling in her gut from before was showing itself again. Something was telling Magnus that there was more to it than just pure and simple denial.

"You must remember I'm not from here. In fact, I'm not even supposed to be here. It was a complete accident. Shouldn't even be possible."

"What do you mean?" She winced for another time as the ache in her head flare up again at the sudden on rush of questions from his words.

"Its…complicated. But I will tell you this. There's more to your world than what you think you know."

"Oh, I'm well aware of that, Mr. Smith."

During her 150+ years, Magnus remembered numerous instances where she encountered things she never thought possible before. And right now, based on his cryptic answers she was beginning to get a feeling that Smith was one of those things. However, she longed to know more.

But before she could say something else to try to push the man into giving her more than just riddles, Will walked in with a syringe and a small glass bottle labeled with the requested solution. While Magnus walked Will through administering the solution, Smith pulled a book off the cart full of reading material they had brought for him earlier, and began to read.

"Thank you, Will" Magnus said with a sigh as the diluted morphine solution took effect. The ache in her head was already beginning to fade.

"You're welcome. Is there anything else you need? Do you want me to stay or something?" questioned Will placing the surgical tube, used needle, and the left over solution on the nearby counter.

"No, I'm fine. But I believe you have some paperwork you have to do for me."

She adored Will, but she didn't need him hovering over her. Not only did she dislike the idea of somebody flapping around her like a mother hen, but she was also not done with Smith. There were still some pressing questions she was craving the answers for. Even though she was beginning to suspect that she was never going to get a straight answer from the man, she still wished to try. And it would be best to do that without Will in the room. Plus, that paperwork did need to be done and knowing her employee, he was probably procrastinating.

"Fine. But radio me if you need anything, okay?" replied Will.

"Of course."

And with that, Will left.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: If I owned anything of these two brilliant shows I would be rich on an island somewhere, not having to deal with the stupid stress of school. But I clearly don't.

Author's Note: I'm _so_ sorry that I've took so long to finish this fanfic. Truly sorry. It's just that I've had a lot on my plate (like the aforementioned school), but the important thing is that it's done now. Better late than never, right? Especially when there are so many fanfics out there that never get finished. So here you go: the conclusion. And again, sorry for the hold up.

Magnus turned to look at Smith. He had his strange grin on again and he was reading another Sherlock Holmes story. The words _The Hound of Baskervilles_ and a baying wolf were engraved in gold on the front of the burnt orange cover. At the sight of the hue, something in the back of her mind surfaced. With the pain defused she now was fully able to see what was pushing to the surface of her thoughts without stopping in agony. It was the memory of what she saw when the Cerebrivore finally left her mind, of those brief yet vivid images of impossible creatures, people, and places. One place in particular had a gorgeous burnt orange sky.

"What kind of place has a burnt orange sky?" questioned Magnus, trying to sound nonchalant.

Simple logic told her that those images must've been some afterimage or a peak into the window of Smith's mind. He had to enter psychically to help her after all, and there was nowhere else that those images could've come from.

"_What_?" responded Smith, the book nearly falling out of hands.

"When you entered my mind to help, I saw a glimpse of a burnt orange sky among other things," explained Magnus.

What intrigued her the most was the sheer impossibility of most of the images. All of the creatures where not any abnormal she recognized. And then there were the places. They all seemed so different, so unearthly, so…alien…

But no. They couldn't be.

"What were they?" she added.

"I should've thought you would do something like that, however unconscious," replied Smith, scratching his head and deliberately looking way. "Brilliant women…always get the best of me…" He stood up, placed his hands in his pockets and began to pace. "I've tried not to talk about this sort of stuff…unpredictable, different universe timelines and all that…I try to stay out of trouble. In fact, it's my new year's resolution…_but_…who am I kidding I can never keep that. Trouble has a way of always sneaking in, and to tell you the truth I'm not complaining. Makes life interesting…

He stopped and faced Magnus. "You're a clever woman, doctor. What do you think those images from my mind were of?"

Magnus knew what her logic said. It told her that those images were a combination of new unknown abnormals her organization hasn't discovered yet, and Smith's dreams or possibly delusions which helped to build a psychological condition that Will could write papers and papers on. But her instincts told her something completely different.

She knew that Smith was out of the ordinary from the moment she took him into the Sanctuary and hooked him up to the machines. As she learned more and more about the depth of the mystery that surrounded him, something in the back of her head refused to accept any rational answers she or her employees could come up with.

Except…Henry. He said that Smith could be from another planet, an alien. At the time she thought that idea was completely ridiculous, but now with her instincts yelling at her…no, it's silly; it's impossible. Isn't it? She said herself that the likelihood that Earth was the only life giving planet with sentient beings was tremendously slim. And that explanation did answer a lot of perplexing questions…

She looked at Smith, the man that couldn't possibly be a man in the normal sense. It was impossible to tell anything from his appearance. Despite the eccentric clothing he was wearing when they brought him in, everything about him on the surface seemed completely normal. But she should know of all people that looks can be deceiving.

His eyes were staring right at her, challenging her to conclude something that she would've never thought she would earlier.

But right then before she could utter anything, Bigfoot came in carrying tray of tea. They both turned to look at him.

"I thought you would like some tea," said Bigfoot. He stopped when he noticed the situation. "If it is inconvenient I could come back another time."

"No. Its fine," replied Magnus coolly, quick to hide her irritation at being interrupted.

He nodded as he set the tray down on the nearby counter. Smith had turned away from Magnus and was now back concentrating on _The Hound of Baskervilles_. It would be a lie to not admit that she was frustrated that Bigfoot had come in at that exact moment. Hadn't she said she'd radio if she needed anything? Well, she guessed she couldn't really blame them for worrying about her. According to them, the attack had shaken all of them. Still, she couldn't help but wish that she'd had a little longer to tie up her train of thought.

"Sally has recovered smoothly. She is still weak, but will be better by tomorrow," informed Bigfoot as he handed her a full tea cup.

"Thank you, old friend," Magnus responded, sitting up a little and taking the steaming cup.

"Would you like any tea, Mr. Smith?" asked Bigfoot.

"No, thank you," replied Smith, seemingly engrossed in his book.

"Is there anything you need?" said Bigfoot turned back to Magnus.

"No. Thank you again for the tea. I'll radio if I need anything else."

He nodded and walked out, leaving the tea tray on the counter in case she wanted anymore. When Bigfoot left, Smith snapped the book shut and stood up again.

"Brilliant man, Arthur Conan Doyle. _Well_, not as brilliant as his character Sherlock Holmes, but that's the thing. He's able to create someone so different than himself, able dare to imagine and go outside his comfort zone all in the name of the progress of his genre. Well…he didn't know at the time he was progressing literature, _but_ he did nonetheless," babbled Smith, heading towards the tea tray. When he was finished postulating, he picked up a cookie apparently placed on the tray to go with the tea.

Magnus knew he was indirectly talking about her and about how she should take that important leap in thought. Funny, that he should use an Arthur Conan Doyle analogy when she was best friends with the man whom inspired him. She had a feeling what her dear friend James Watson would say about this man calling himself Smith, and she would like to think that she was thinking the same. In more ways than one she was. It wasn't something normally thought of in her long life, but when had anything been normal with her. In truth she didn't need more time to make the conclusion about Smith. She had already done so long before. Her gut was most of the time more decisive than her mind. It was the reason why she was still alive. So really there was no reason to debate the subject of what this man was, because she already knew even though she would be hard pressed to say so.

"Did someone on your staff make these biscuits?" asked Smith, beginning on a second cookie. "Their fantastic!"

Magnus smiled and settled into a comfortable position, readying herself for a long and pleasantly meaningless conversation. She had decided to give up searching into the mystery of Smith. She had no doubt that he will plague her ponderings in the future, but now that she had some idea of who or what he was, she had a feeling that it would take more time than she had to unravel the complete enigma that is this strange man. She knew he wasn't sticking around, so she might as well just let the matter rest if she knew she was going to get nowhere with him.

So as the tea cooled in her hand and the man calling himself John Smith began to babble about the wonders of a good desert, Dr. Helen Magnus let herself relax knowing that at least some of the mystery was solved and the Sanctuary was safe. For the moment at least.


End file.
